Rainy Day
by Bay Alexison
Summary: While Artemia stays in the hospital to recover from an accident, Einheria and DeRosa have a little chat.


**Author's Note:** For fan-flashworks LJ community, Amnesty Challenge 129, theme "Red".

Artemia was out in one of her hunts again, but when it started to rain outside and she hadn't returned back to Florem yet, Einheria grew worried. This wasn't the first time her sister had been away for days, but her instincts told her something was wrong. After letting Mephilia know, the two went out to find her.

Twisted Treetop was the usual spot for Artemia to get the orochi. Upon entering the area, Einheria saw many bones hung all over the large tree with the decaying smell lingered in the air. It didn't take long until she and Mephilia found Artemia lying on the muddy ground, deep cuts on her arms and legs. Pieces of a bag and torn herbal leaves were scattered around, leaving her to believe something or someone prevented her sister from using antidotes. Einheira immediately bend down to check Artemia's pulse, slow but still beating. She asked Mephilia to teleport them back to Florem this instant, which she did.

A few hours after they had taken Artemia to a doctor, she told them their sister suffered from orochi bites but they were able to get rid of the toxin from her system after giving her some antidotes and healing magic. Because Artemia had been outside in the rain for sometime also, she had a high fever and a high chance of having pneumonia. She would need a few days rest at least, but Einheria was glad in the end she was going to live. This incident reminded her the time Artemia was raised by frosti while she was away on her journey, except this time all three sisters resided in the same region.

Two days later, Einheria visited Artemia in the hospital. Unlike the hospital rooms in Eternia where they were neat but bland, the ones in Florem were more interesting with the walls in fancy decorations and the low green lighting giving off a spring look. Her little sister woke up, a little dreary but still able to hold small conversations with her.

"And then the orochi's tail struck Artemia hard, but she was able to deliver the final blow!" she said and beamed, talking about her battle with the orochi.

"You must be very proud of that," Einheria said, forming a tiny smile. It still scared her she almost lost Artemia, but her wild spirit had put her at ease for a little bit.

"Pardon the intrusion, but I came to drop by to see how Artemia's doing," someone from behind suddenly said. Einheria twisted around to see red mage Fiore DeRosa in front of them. "Mephilia had told me everything."

"Artemia just finished telling Sister of her encounter of one orochi that bit her."

"Oh? You're able to finish it off, I take it."

"Nothing gets in Artemia's way, unlike DeRosa who is too scared to face off orochi himself."

That made DeRosa do a double take and he grunted. While it was amusing to see her sister made a jab at him, Einheria didn't laugh. He was the reason Artemia had to hunt the orochi and that made her blood boil.

"Captain DeRosa, may I have a word with you in private?"

"Why, certainly my dear," DeRosa said, unfazed by her sharp tone.

The two left Artemia's room and went to an empty lounge room so she could talk to him without anyone eavesdropping.

"I'm not comfortable with Artemia doing this," she said in a low but grim voice. "She could get seriously hurt again."

"Ah, but aren't you the one that ordered her to do it?"

"Only because she listens to no one else but me and Mephilia." While she did convince Artemia to do this, the orochi hunting was DeRosa's idea from the beginning. Even then, she took full responsibility for letting her sister go through with this plan. "Besides that, I've noticed also Mephilia acting not herself as of late after she got her assignment. I understand we're doing this for the duchy, but will it be worth it?"

"Of course it will! As members of the Bloodrose Legion, we're tasked with making sure the citizens here are driven away from Crystalism, and I'll do it by whatever means necessary."

"Including drugs?" She had noticed lately the women in Florem had been acting strange, always wanting either the hair dye or hairpins. The Flories's wings even made Mephilia mad. All of this didn't sit well with her.

"If you're planning on telling this to the grand marshal, think again." As DeRosa waved his rose in front of Einheria's face, he said, "Not only will I be taken out of the duchy, which I'm sure you'll celebrate over, so will you and your sisters for going along with my plans. There's no other option."

Einheria let out a bitter noise and clenched her fist, knowing full well that DeRosa was right. She went with it at first thinking there would be minimal consequences, but she was naive in having that mindset.

"I made myself clear then, yes?" The way DeRosa's smirk grew wider made Einheria sick to her stomach. "Good. I'll see you in my lab tomorrow." He walked to the door and exited the room, leaving her alone.

A few hours later, she left the hospital and it was raining outside again. Einheria let the waterdrops sting her face. She wanted to fight for Eternia, and in extension Luxendarc, but not like this. Her sisters also didn't deserve the life they were living now. For the first time in a long while, she felt she had failed them.


End file.
